New Fairfield, Barlow to play for SWC boys lacrosse title

Published 11:30 pm, Tuesday, May 21, 2013

NEWTOWN -- Back in the difficult start to its season, the New Fairfield's boys lacrosse team got blown out at Barlow. It has waited almost two months for another shot at the Falcons.

The Rebels got it, but Weston gave them all they could handle to get it. New Fairfield hung on Tuesday for a 9-8 win in the SWC semifinals, setting up a date Thursday with the Falcons, who beat Brookfield 10-4.

Barlow beat New Fairfield 16-3 at home on April 9, the Rebels' third loss in a row to start the year, Barlow's second win. The rematch is Thursday at Brookfield at 5 p.m.

"We weren't prepared for them at the beginning of the year," said New Fairfield coach Marty Morgan, whose team is in the conference final for the fifth time in six years.

"We were still trying to figure out who could fit where. I figured (the Falcons) were in the same boat, but then I saw them hitting on all cylinders."

The Falcons (16-1) remain unbeaten in 15 games against state opponents. But New Fairfield (13-4) has won 11 in a row since April 16.

"One thing that worries me is how badly we beat them the first game," Barlow coach John Distler said. "No matter what you tell the kids, psychologically (it's in their minds).

"Marty's teams always get up to play us. The last two years, they've given us fits in the playoffs after we beat them in the regular season."

New Fairfield scored five in a row to lead 5-1 Tuesday at Blue and Gold Stadium, but Weston never went away, thanks to junior goalie Grant Limone and his 20 saves.

"He's going to Loyola. He's a great goalie," said New Fairfield senior midfielder Liam Moriarty, who had two goals and three assists. "We had one place to shoot, off his stick hip."

Sometimes the shots got to that spot, sometimes not.

"Even the ones we shot to where we wanted, he started to come up with huge saves," Morgan said.

Limone made five stops in the first six minutes of the third quarter alone before New Fairfield made it 7-5

"Our goalie stood on his head," Weston coach John Mathews said. "He's been keeping us in every game. Teams that just break our defense down and beat us, he's back there."

Sean Fumai scored his fourth goal for Weston (9-9) with 1:41 left to cut the lead to 9-8. The Trojans forced a Rebels turnover with just under a minute to go, but John Gephart stole it back.

Weston and Brookfield played for the second day in a row in humid, near-90-degree conditions, while Barlow and New Fairfield, the top two seeds, had byes. For the Rebels, who played while the sun was out, that was a double-edged sword: the Trojans were drained, but at least they had felt that heat once after a cool spring.

"A lot of kids had to dig deep," Moriarty said.

Brookfield (13-5) never led Tuesday, held scoreless for almost 32 minutes.

"We just had a lot of turnovers," Brookfield coach Brian Loftus said. "We lost the ground-ball battle.

"Turnovers really hurt you in the offensive end. You've got to go back and play defense."

In a 15-7 regular-season loss at Barlow, Brookfield had moved the ball well and hung in until late in the third quarter.

That movement never really surfaced Tuesday. The Bobcats were without the injured Tim Tremaglio on Tuesday, but the Falcons also adjusted their coverage around the front of the net.

The Falcons haven't won the SWC tournament since 2006, the last of three years in a row; the Rebels won in 2008 and 2010.

"We were robbed last year," said Barlow defender Conn Curry, recalling an 8-6 loss to Weston when Limone made 16 saves. "We want to bring it back to Barlow. We'll just try to play our best."